Career College Central

Career College Central - October 2020

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Subscribe at careercollegecentral.com 42 The crisis of too few counselors Although the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) recently released data showing that the student-to-school-counselor ratio is narrowing across the country—reaching its lowest margin in nearly 32 years—the closing gap is far from enough, especially in light of current circumstances. "is new ratio data shows improvement, but there is still work to be done," said Kwok-Sze Richard Wong, Ed.D., ASCA's executive director. "Factors including continued advocacy for the profession, increased school district funding and the implementation of school counseling programs in every U.S. school are necessary to ensure every student receives essential support from a school counselor." While the ASCA recommends a ratio of 250 students to one counselor, this recently improved ratio puts the country at 430 students to one counselor (yes, that is the best it's been in more than three decades), and that is far from equally spread. Many states remain well above the 250-to-1 recommended by the ASCA, including Arizona at 905-to-1. "e coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the instability of relying on one counselor, or just a few, to guide hundreds of students through new academic hurdles, prepare them for an uncertain future and triage their mental health crises," said the Hechinger Report. "Besides being away from counselors, kids are also out of sight of their teachers and peers, two groups that oen help counselors identify who might need their help," and "counselors around the country have scrambled to find answers to questions about how to ethically and logistically approach the new virtual reality of their work." Visibility into the vulnerable Since mid-March, when Safer at Home initiatives and lockdowns were rolled out across the country, the Arizona Department of Child Safety says it has seen the number of calls to its child abuse hotline fall by 25 percent. is is "a reminder that students in vulnerable situations at home are isolated from the adults on campus, most oen counselors, who keep careful watch for signs of abuse and neglect," said the Hechinger Report. "Being away from a daily check-in with their school support system can . . . mean they might not have someone advocating on their behalf every day. Many students could be deeply vulnerable now that schools are closed indefinitely," said Bronwyn Kotarski of the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA). "Vulnerable students are typically students identified as at risk—for truancy, for being a parent, for supporting their parents, for having a parent in jail, for begin a so-so reader, for being a foster kid, for having a home that is food insecure or has no permanent address, for being abused, for abusing drugs, for any or all the above and for a never-ending number of factors that stack-up against too many young people who need additional supports to move towards graduation," say Shaunna Finley, PhD, and John M. McLaughlin, PhD, with ChanceLight Education. "With it seeming highly likely that the 2020–21 school year will have COVID outbreaks, continuity struggles, and enormous community and media focus," they posit, "at-risk students are more likely than most to avoid school, fall behind, check out, and drop out." "e pandemic is a real recipe for concern because we're going to see increased levels of need from students. At the same time, universities are experiencing significant financial downturns," including hiring freezes and budget cuts, says Catherine Grus, PhD, American Psychological Association's chief education officer. "I really worry about the ability of universities to adequately provide for the mental health needs of their students." How counselors can combat concern and support students One thing that has surfaced during the pandemic is an awareness of how little control we as individuals oen have over our circumstances. Colleges and universities

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